Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Picture of Dorian Gray.... Bizarre But Worth a Read

Today, one of my homework assignments was to read the book "The Picture of Dorian Gray". It was a very strange and intriguing book that I would recommend. It is all about a dashing young man name Dorian Gray who gets a portrait painted of himself, and it is a very lovely looking photo that looks exactly like him. Just as he is leaving with his photo, a man comes in and tells him his youth and looks won't last forever, so enjoy life while you can. This makes Dorian corrupted by his looks, and he makes the crazy wish of having the portrait grow older and him stay eternally young.

Well, everything is going well for Dorian; he has the picture on his wall, his popularity is rising, and he is engaged to the most beautiful woman on Earth. However, he breaks his engagement off after being humiliated by his spouse, and this in turn breaks the girl's heart, which leads to an early death by suicide.

In shock, Dorian returns home only to find another shock waiting for him: The picture of himself now has a frown on it's face!  Alarmed, Dorian hides the picture away in the attic of his house and locks the door, afraid that someone might see this monstrosity and blab. However, each time Dorian sins, the picture gets worse- until all that is left is a hideous beast.

The ending is a bit of a shock: After committing many murders, Dorian Gray decides to destroy the painting once and for all, since it is the only evidence against him. As he goes to slash the painting with the knife, there is a scream, and when the servants go upstairs, they find a twisted beast lying on the floor with a knife through it's heart. In the portrait there is now a smiling young man. And so, Dorian Gray switched places with his portrait once again.

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